Representation of people in a spreadsheet

ABSTRACT

A spreadsheet includes a native spreadsheet object that represents a person. The person object may be used within a spreadsheet just as any other spreadsheet objects are utilized. For example, the person object may be integrated with spreadsheet formulas and other spreadsheet objects such as charts, tables, pivot tables, sheets, and the like. Spreadsheet formulas may perform operations specific to a person object (e.g. send message, get contact information, get status, get other person specific information, sort, and the like). Common actions may be associated with the person object, such as initiating communication with the person represented by the person object (e.g. phone call, email, text message, collaboration invite, and the like). Social networking information may also be associated with a person object. For example, social networking posts may be included within a spreadsheet, a user may post to a social network from the spreadsheet, and the like.

BACKGROUND

Many people utilize spreadsheets to interact with data. Many of theseuses are centered around people. For example, a user may usespreadsheets for generating reports, tracking status of different workitems assigned to other people, interacting with charts and tables,collaborating with other users, and the like. Connecting these taskswith users can be cumbersome. For instance, a user may need to usedifferent programs to email users tasks within the program for whichthey are responsible or lookup more detailed user information from oneor more other programs.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

A spreadsheet includes a spreadsheet person object that represents aperson. The person object may be used within a spreadsheet just as anyother spreadsheet objects are utilized. For example, the person objectmay be integrated within spreadsheet formulas and other spreadsheetobjects such as charts, tables, pivot tables, sheets, and the like.Spreadsheet formulas may perform operations specific to a person object(e.g. send message, get contact information, get status, get otherperson specific information, sort based on person information, and thelike). Common actions may be associated with the person object, such asinitiating communication with the person represented by the personobject (e.g. phone call, email, text message, collaboration invite, andthe like). Social networking information may also be associated with aperson object. For example, social networking posts may be includedwithin a spreadsheet, a user may post to a social network from thespreadsheet, and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary computing environment;

FIG. 2 shows a system for using person objects with a spreadsheet;

FIG. 3 shows a spreadsheet comprising different spreadsheet objectsincluding one or more person objects;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary spreadsheet including person objects;

FIG. 5 shows a person object including fields and options that areassociated with a person object;

FIG. 6 illustrates different status indicators for a person object;

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary spreadsheet in which a user is entering a nameinto a cell of the spreadsheet;

FIG. 8 illustrates performing an action that is associated with a personobject for a selected portion of a spreadsheet;

FIG. 9 shows a spreadsheet that includes posts obtained from a socialnetwork;

FIG. 10 illustrates adding a post to a social network;

FIG. 11 shows a spreadsheet including person objects that show when aperson object is nearby;

FIG. 12 illustrates a user selecting a portion of a spreadsheet anddropping it on a person object; and

FIG. 13 shows an illustrative process for representing a person within aspreadsheet.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent likeelements, various embodiment will be described. In particular, FIG. 1and the corresponding discussion are intended to provide a brief,general description of a suitable computing environment in whichembodiments may be implemented.

Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, datastructures, and other types of structures that perform particular tasksor implement particular abstract data types. Other computer systemconfigurations may also be used, including hand-held devices,multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like.Distributed computing environments may also be used where tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an illustrative computer environment for acomputer 100 utilized in the various embodiments will be described. Thecomputer environment shown in FIG. 1 includes computing devices thateach may be configured as a server, a desktop or mobile computer, orsome other type of computing device and includes a central processingunit 5 (“CPU”), a system memory 7, including a random access memory 9(“RAM”) and a read-only memory (“ROM”) 10, and a system bus 12 thatcouples the memory to the central processing unit (“CPU”) 5.

A basic input/output system containing the basic routines that help totransfer information between elements within the computer, such asduring startup, is stored in the ROM 10. The computer 100 furtherincludes a mass storage device 14 for storing an operating system 16,spreadsheet 11, spreadsheet application 24, other program modules 25,and spreadsheet manager 26 which will be described in greater detailbelow.

The mass storage device 14 is connected to the CPU 5 through a massstorage controller (not shown) connected to the bus 12. The mass storagedevice 14 and its associated computer-readable media providenon-volatile storage for the computer 100. Although the description ofcomputer-readable media contained herein refers to a mass storagedevice, such as a hard disk or CD-ROM drive, the computer-readable mediacan be any available media that can be accessed by the computer 100.

By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media maycomprise computer storage media and communication media. Computerstorage media includes volatile and non-volatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storageof information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules or other data. Computer storage media includes, but isnot limited to, RAM, ROM, Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory(“EPROM”), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory(“EEPROM”), flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM,digital versatile disks (“DVD”), or other optical storage, magneticcassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store thedesired information and which can be accessed by the computer 100.

Computer 100 operates in a networked environment using logicalconnections to remote computers through a network 18, such as theInternet. The computer 100 may connect to the network 18 through anetwork interface unit 20 connected to the bus 12. The networkconnection may be wireless and/or wired. The network interface unit 20may also be utilized to connect to other types of networks and remotecomputer systems. The computer 100 may also include an input/outputcontroller 22 for receiving and processing input from a number of otherdevices, including a keyboard, mouse, or electronic stylus (not shown inFIG. 1). Similarly, an input/output controller 22 may provideinput/output to an IP phone, a display screen 23, a printer, or othertype of output device.

As mentioned briefly above, a number of program modules and data filesmay be stored in the mass storage device 14 and RAM 9 of the computer100, including an operating system 16 suitable for controlling theoperation of a computer, such as WINDOWS SERVER® or the WINDOWS 7®operating system from MICROSOFT CORPORATION of Redmond, Wash. The massstorage device 14 and RAM 9 may also store one or more program modules.In particular, the mass storage device 14 and the RAM 9 may store one ormore application programs, including a spreadsheet application 24 andprogram modules 25. According to an embodiment, the spreadsheetapplication 24 is the MICROSOFT EXCEL spreadsheet application. Otherspreadsheet applications may also be used.

A user interface 15 allows a user to interact with the spreadsheet. Forexample, cells, tables, charts and other objects of the spreadsheet maybe selected and interacted with through the user interface. Aspreadsheet application 24 supports a person object that represents aperson or a group of persons. Spreadsheet manager 26 is configured tointeract with one or more spreadsheet objects, including a personobject, within a spreadsheet, such as spreadsheet 11. Spreadsheetmanager 26 may be located externally from spreadsheet application 24 asshown or may be a part of spreadsheet application 24. Further, all/someof the functionality provided by spreadsheet manager 26 may be locatedinternally/externally from spreadsheet application 24.

The person object may be used within a spreadsheet, such as spreadsheet11, just as any other spreadsheet objects are utilized. For example, anyoperation that may be applied to another spreadsheet object may beapplied to the person object. The person object may be integrated withinspreadsheet formulas and other spreadsheet objects such as charts,tables, pivot tables, sheets, and the like. Spreadsheet formulas mayperform operations specific to a person object. For example, in responseto some condition occurring, an action relating to a person object mayoccur. Such as a message or alert may be automatically sent to a user,person objects may be sorted, one or more person objects may beadded/deleted from the spreadsheet, information may be surfaced withinthe spreadsheet, status information for the person that is associatedwith the person may be obtained, and the like.

A person spreadsheet object may also be associated with one or moresocial networks, such as social network(s) 17. For example, socialnetworking posts that are associated with a person object may beautomatically included within a spreadsheet. A user of the spreadsheetmay also post to a social network or some other network location (e.g.blog, web page, file) directly from within the spreadsheet. More detailsregarding the person spreadsheet object are disclosed below.

FIG. 2 shows a system for using person objects with a spreadsheet. Asillustrated, system 200 includes computing device 1 (210), computingdevice 2 (220), network share 230, spreadsheet server 240 and socialnetwork 250.

The computing devices may be any type of computing device that isconfigured to perform the operations relating to interacting withspreadsheet objects. For example, some of the computing devices may be:mobile computing devices (e.g. cellular phones, tablets, smart phones,laptops, and the like); desktop computing devices and servers. Somecomputing devices may be arranged to provide an online cloud basedservice (e.g. interacting with spreadsheets online), some may bearranged as data shares, some may be arranged in local networks, somemay be arranged in networks accessible through the Internet, and thelike.

The computing devices are coupled through network 18. Network 18 may bemany different types of networks. For example, network 18 may be an IPnetwork, a carrier network for cellular communications, and the like.Generally, network 18 is used to transmit data between computingdevices, such as computing device 1, computing device 2, network share230, spreadsheet server 240 and social network 250.

Computing device 1 includes spreadsheet application 212, spreadsheet 214and user interface 216. As illustrated, computing device 1 is used by auser to interact with a spreadsheet, such as spreadsheet 214, thatcomprises one or more person objects.

Spreadsheet 214 comprises different cells/spreadsheet objects includingperson objects, that may be interacted with using spreadsheetapplication 212. The spreadsheet may contain many different kinds ofdata or objects. For example, person objects, cells, tables, charts andother objects may be included within the spreadsheet.

User interface (UI) 216 is used to interact with a spreadsheet, such asspreadsheet 214. One or more user interfaces of one or more types may beused to interact with the spreadsheet. For example, UI 216 may be acontext menu, a menu within a menu bar, a menu item selected from aribbon user interface, a graphical menu, and the like. Generally, UI 216is configured such that a user may easily interact with the spreadsheet,including person spreadsheet object(s). For example, when a personobject is selected within spreadsheet 214 using user interface 216, oneor more options may be presented to the user to interact with the personobject and/or to perform an action relating to the person object. Theoptions that are associated with a person object may include manydifferent types of items and actions that include, but are not limitedto: interacting with contact information, organization information,interests (e.g. hobbies, subjects . . . ); interacting with identifyinginformation (age, school, groups . . . ); contacting the person that isrepresented by the person object, creating a formula relating to theperson object; posting to one or more social networking sites or networklocations, and the like. For example, a user may simply select an optionwithin UI 216 that creates a new email message that is addressed to theperson represented by the person object.

A network share 230 may be used to store information relating to one ormore spreadsheets. Network share 230 is accessible by the computingdevices that interact with a spreadsheet 232 that includes a personobject. The network share may be associated with an online service thatsupports online access/interaction with the spreadsheet and spreadsheetobjects. For example, spreadsheet server 240 may be configured as anonline service to provide online users with the ability tointeract/modify spreadsheets that include person objects.

A social network 250 may also be associated with a person object. Forexample, a person object may indicate that it is associated with socialnetwork 250 and that any posts that are placed on social network 250 areto be placed within one or more spreadsheets. A formula may also beincluded within the spreadsheet that automatically filters the posts tobe placed within the spreadsheet. A user may also post to social network250 and/or some other network location directly from a spreadsheet usingformulas and/or a user interface.

Computing device 2 includes one or more applications, such as webbrowser 222 that may be configured to view/enter/interact withdata/objects that are associated with a spreadsheet. For example, webbrowser 222 may be used to access spreadsheet server 240 to interactwith spreadsheet 232 that includes a person object.

Spreadsheet server 240 includes web application 242 that comprisesspreadsheet web renderer 244. According to an embodiment, spreadsheetserver 240 is configured as a server that is located within an onlineservice that is configured to provide services relating to displaying aninteracting with spreadsheets. Web application 242 is configured forreceiving and responding to requests relating to spreadsheet documents.For example, spreadsheet server 240 may access spreadsheet 232 includinga person object stored on network share 230. Web application 242 isoperative to provide an interface to a user of a computing device, suchas computing device 2, to interact with a spreadsheet accessible vianetwork 18. Web application 242 may communicate with a spreadsheetcalculation server that is used for retrieving and calculatingspreadsheets, such as the spreadsheet 232 stored at network share 230.The calculation server is configured to interact with and processoperations relating to person objects.

Spreadsheet server 240 receives requests from computing devices, such associal network 250 and/or computing device 2. A computing device maytransmit a request to spreadsheet server 240 to perform an actionrelating to a person object, such as viewing the spreadsheet thatincludes a person object. In response to such a request, the Webapplication 242 obtains the spreadsheet from a location, such as networkshare 230. The spreadsheet to display is converted into a markuplanguage format, such as the ISO/IEC 29500 format. The spreadsheet maybe converted by spreadsheet server 240 or by one or more other computingdevices. Once the Web application 242 has received the markup languagerepresentation of the spreadsheet, the spreadsheet server utilizes thespreadsheet Web renderer 244 to convert the markup language formattedspreadsheet into a representation of the spreadsheet that may berendered by a Web browser application, such as Web browser 222 oncomputing device 2. The rendered spreadsheet appears substantiallysimilar to the output of the spreadsheet application 212 on computingdevice 1 when utilized to view the same spreadsheet. Once thespreadsheet Web renderer 244 has completed rendering the file, it isreturned by the spreadsheet server 240 to the requesting computingdevice, such as computing device 2, where it may be rendered by the Webbrowser 222.

The spreadsheet Web renderer 244 is also configured to render into themarkup language file one or more scripts for allowing the user of acomputing device, such as computing device 2 to interact with thespreadsheet within the context of the Web browser 22. Spreadsheet Webrenderer 244 is operative to render script code that is executable bythe Web browser application 222 into the returned Web page. The scriptsmay provide functionality, for instance, for allowing a user to change aview of the spreadsheet and/or to modify values that are related to thespreadsheet. In response to certain types of user input, the scripts maybe executed. When a script is executed, a response may be transmitted tothe spreadsheet server 240 indicating a spreadsheet object within thespreadsheet that has been acted upon, to identify the type ofinteraction that was made, and to further identify to the Webapplication 242 the function that should be performed upon theappropriate spreadsheet object.

FIG. 3 shows a spreadsheet comprising different spreadsheet objectsincluding one or more person objects. As illustrated spreadsheet 300shows different user interfaces, menus, and spreadsheet objectsincluding person object 301, row 302, column 303, table 304, formula 305and list 306. While only one object of each type is shown, more or fewerobjects may be included within spreadsheet 300. Other types ofobjects/data may also be included within spreadsheet 300.

Spreadsheet 300 includes a grid having rows and columns. The columns androws define the workspace for the currently selected workbook. Each ofthe cells defined by a particular row and column combination can beedited with numerical or text data and commands may be performed on thevarious cells to perform virtually unlimited types of analysisoperations.

Spreadsheet 300 also includes various user interface elements fornavigating within the currently selected spreadsheet or within otherspreadsheets within the currently selected workbook. Spreadsheet 300also shows exemplary user interfaces that may be used for interactingwith one or more spreadsheet objects, such as menu 320 and menu 322.Menu 320 is a menu that is contained within menu bar 330. When menu 320is selected various options are available to be selected. The optionsmay comprise a variety of options, such as options relating to a personobject including contacting a person, creating a formula that isassociated with the person object, posting to a social network, andother options (not shown). A context menu may also be used to receivethe sharing options. For example, a user may right click on Table 304which displays context menu 322. As illustrated, context menu 322includes a send option, a post option, a filter option, and an associateoption. The send option creates a message to send the table to a person.The post option posts the table to a network location, such as a socialnetwork. The filter option may be used to sort the table and/or change adisplay of the table based on a person object field(s). The associateoption configures the table to be associated with a person object, suchthat a view of the spreadsheet is changed to emphasize the table whenthe person represented by the person object views the spreadsheet.

According to an embodiment, other native spreadsheet objects (e.g.charts, tables, pivot tables, lists, and the like) are extended todefine behaviors for those spreadsheet objects that are specific to aperson object. For example, a list may include a behavior to sort thelist on a field of a person object (i.e. show people above a certainage, show people that are in a certain group, sort on the age).

FIGS. 4-12 show exemplary spreadsheet person objects. FIGS. 4-12 are forexemplary purpose and are not intended to be limiting.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary spreadsheet including person objects. Asillustrated, FIG. 4 comprises a spreadsheet that includes four personobjects in four rows of the spreadsheet.

Row 410 shows a person object (Person 1) in column A Row 412 shows aperson object (Person 2) in column A Row 414 shows a person object(Person 3) in column A Row 416 shows a person object that represents agroup of people.

Each person object comprises core methods for performing operationsrelating to the person object and extensible methods/fields that may beadded to the person object. For example, a user may add one or morefields/operations to a person object. These fields and operations may beany item that is related to a person (e.g. club affiliations, politicalparty, school, grade, marital status, income level, and the like). Theperson object can be used to automate the spreadsheet application justas any other spreadsheet object can be used.

Each person object may also be included in one or more formulas within aspreadsheet. For example, when a person object is added to aspreadsheet, a formula may specify to automatically add information tothe spreadsheet. In the current example, when a person object is added(automatically/manually) to the spreadsheet, office information, apreferred phone number is obtained, and an alias is automatically addedto the spreadsheet (see columns B, C and D). The information placedwithin the spreadsheet of the current example is obtained from a basefield of the person object (See FIG. 5 for exemplary base fields of theperson object). Information may also be obtained from other locations.For example, when a person object is inserted within a spreadsheet, aformula may specify to automatically display their co-workers, theiropen tasks, a list of messages, posts from a social network they areassociated with, and the like.

As illustrated, each person object is graphically depicted. For example,a person object may include an icon to represent the person, a pictureof the person, or some other indicator that identifies the object as aperson.

A status indicator (420) may also be displayed with the person object.The status indicator shows a current availability status of the user. Asillustrated, person 1 is in a meeting, person 2 has been offline for onehour, person 3 is online, and group 1 is in a meeting. A name, or someother information, may also be displayed near the person object. In thecurrent example, the person object includes a name of the person and astatus description.

FIG. 5 shows a person object including fields and options that areassociated with a person object.

A person object has base fields that are common to all of the personobjects. Different implementations of the person object may have adifferent number of base fields that are included. As illustrated, aperson object comprises all/some of the following: contact information,organization information, interest information, identifying informationand social network information.

Contact information includes contact information that may be used tocontact the person. For example, the contact information may includesome/all of the following information: name, phone number(s), addresses,e-mail(s), web addresses, Instant Message address, social network IDsand preferred contact method(s).

Organization information includes information relating to one or moreorganizations as to which the person is a part of. For example, theorganization information may include some/all of the followinginformation: company information, department information, job title,organization, manager, direct reports, and the like.

Interest information includes information relating to the person'sinterests. For example, the interest information may include that theperson likes skiing, surfing, hiking and video editing.

Social network information includes information relating to the socialnetworks to which the person is associated with. The information mayinclude the names of the social network(s), information (e.g. token,identifying information) that is used to obtain/post information from/tothe social network as well as other information relating to the site.The social network information may also be used to identify othernetwork locations for which the user would like to associate a personobject (e.g. blog, web page, file).

Various options may also be associated with a person object. Asillustrated, a contact option, a create formula option, a post option,and a custom option is included. More or fewer options may be included.Selecting one of the options performs the option. For example, selectingthe contact method will create a new message to the person representedby the person object.

The contact option may be the preferred contact method (i.e. email,phone, IM) or the user may select a different contact method.

The create formula option associates a formula with the person object.The formulas may be created in the same manner as creating formulas forother objects within the spreadsheet. The formula may be used to readinformation from a person object, write information to a person object,perform one or more actions on a person object (e.g. send email toperson, send notification, etc.). The formulas integrate with the otherformulas in the spreadsheet. In other words, the person object may beincluded in a formula in the same manner as any other spreadsheetobject. Many different types of formulas may be developed to interactwith a person object. The following are a few exemplary uses of formulasthat interact with a person object.

Suppose that a spreadsheet includes a number of persons that areresponsible for performing a task. A formula may be created specifyingthat when the number of tasks for a person is more than a predeterminedamount, then an email is sent to that person. This formula may fireautomatically.

Suppose that a user desires to keep track of the people in theirorganization. A formula may be created to obtain the people who reportto a manager and display corresponding person objects in thespreadsheet. One or more other formulas may be used to perform someother action using the obtained person objects (e.g. display preferredcontact method, alias, sort, and the like). Whenever the list changes,the spreadsheet is automatically updated.

Suppose that a user has a list of people on their team that is includedin the spreadsheet. A formula may be created in the spreadsheet toautomatically send an ‘invite to collaborate’ email when someone newjoins the team. When the person is added to the list in the spreadsheetthe formula executed and the collaborate email is sent.

The post option posts information to one or more social networks, blogs,or some other web address that is identified. For example, selecting thepost option may post a comment to a social network, may post a sectionof a spreadsheet to the social network, or may post other identifiedinformation to the network location.

The custom option allows a user to extend the available options. Forexample, a user may create a task option that when selected shows thecurrent tasks assigned to the user. Another option might show a list ofmessages received within the last day. Another option might show a listof persons who have completed a project. Another option might show alist of upcoming meetings. As can be seen, the custom options may relateto almost anything that may be associated with a person. The customoptions may be associated with a formula, a macro and/or other code thatis used to perform the operation.

FIG. 6 illustrates different status indicators for a person object.Display 600 includes different status indicators that may be used torepresent a status of a person. More/fewer status indicators may beincluded. Status indicator 602 shows that a person is in a meeting.Status indicator 604 shows that a person is offline. Status indicator606 shows that a person is online. Status indicator 608 shows that aperson is on a social network. Status indicator 610 shows that a personis on vacation. Status indicator 612 shows that a person is on businesstravel. Status indicator 614 shows that a person is away. Otherindicators may also be used. For example, a color of the representationof the person object may change color, a shape of the person object maychange, a text description may be illustrated to show the status, anaudible indication may be used to indicate the status, and the like.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary spreadsheet in which a user is entering a nameinto a cell of the spreadsheet. As illustrated, spreadsheet 700 includesan entry box 705 in which the user has entered “Mar.” In response to theuser entering one or more letters into entry box 705, list 710 isdisplayed that shows possible matches for the entry. List 710 maycomprise person objects and non-person objects. For example, list 710includes three person objects and another object (March) that may matchthe entry in entry box 705. Selecting one of the entries in list 710places the object within the cell which in this case is cell A5. Asdiscussed above, when a person object is placed within a cell, otherspreadsheet information may be automatically populated. In the currentexample, the information populated is the number of tasks that arepending for the person, an extension at which the person may be reached,and the times the person is available during the day.

FIG. 8 illustrates performing an action that is associated with a personobject for a selected portion of a spreadsheet.

As illustrated, a user has selected a portion of the spreadsheet asindicated by box 805. A user may select any amount of the spreadsheet.For example, a user may select a single cell, a portion of thespreadsheet, or the entire spreadsheet. A user may perform manydifferent operations relating to the selection. Some of these operationsare associated with one or more person objects. According to anembodiment, when a user right clicks on the selection, a context menu810 that comprises different options that may be selected. Asillustrated, context menu 810 includes an option to send the selectionto a person object (that may represent a group), an option to associatethe selection with a person/group, an option to post the selection on asocial network (or some other network location), and an option toperform some other option that is not directly specified within themenu. Selecting one or more person objects may indicate to create a newmessage to send to the selected people.

The send to person option sends a message to the user that includes theinformation and/or a link to the information that is selected.

The associate with a person option may associate the selected portion ofthe spreadsheet with a user such that when they view the spreadsheetthat user is first shown the selected portion of the spreadsheet. Forexample, a spreadsheet may be very large but only a certain portion ofthe spreadsheet is relevant to a user. In this case, the user may selectthe portion of the spreadsheet that is relevant to a user and thenassociate that portion with the user. When the associated user opens thespreadsheet the associated portion of the spreadsheet is displayed.

The post on social network option may post the selected portion to asocial network and/or some other network location (e.g. web site, blog .. . ).

FIG. 9 shows a spreadsheet that includes posts obtained from a socialnetwork. As illustrated, spreadsheet 900 includes 4 person objects thatincludes a people column, a review column and a posts column.

The posts column shows posts that the person has made on their socialnetwork, blog, web site, file, or some other network location. Theinformation may be automatically/manually retrieved from the networklocation. The social network (or other network location) may also sendthe information directly to the spreadsheet application for integration.The posts may be all the posts made by the person and/or filtered basedon a formula that is associated with the cell/column. For example, theuser may specify that the only posts they want displayed are directed tothe current user of the spreadsheet.

The review column shows the use of a formula to determine whether aperson has reviewed an item. The item may be a document, a task, aproposed date for a meeting, and the like. As illustrated, person 1 andperson 3 have reviewed the item, person 2 has not reviewed the item and6/10 persons that are associated with group 1 have reviewed the item.According to an embodiment, selecting the person object that isassociated with the group expands the display to include a display foreach person represented by the group. In this way, the user may seewhich members of the group have reviewed the item and which have not.

FIG. 10 illustrates adding a post to a social network. As illustrated,spreadsheet 1000 includes interface 1010 that allows a user to enter apost that is posted to a social network. The post may be directed to asingle person, a group of persons and/or posted on a wall of the user.Interface 1010 may be displayed in response to various actions. Forexample, a user may select a menu option, right click on a personobject, hit a shortcut key, and the like. Once the user has added theircontent, the post is made to the social network. As discussed, the postmay be to a social network, a blog, a file, a website and/or to someother network location.

FIG. 11 shows a spreadsheet including person objects that show when aperson object is nearby. As illustrated, spreadsheet 1100 displays whena person that is represented by a person object within the spreadsheetis nearby. For example, a formula may be specified (1110) that defines aperson is nearby when they are within 50 yards of the open spreadsheet1100 and when they are nearby an invitation is sent to the person askingif they would like to collaborate with the user of the spreadsheet. Inthe current example, the user has created a column (B) showing when aperson is nearby and a column (C) indicating whether or not a user hasaccepted to collaborate with the user. The distance that a person isconsidered nearby may be predefined and/or defined by a user (such as ina formula).

FIG. 12 illustrates a user selecting a portion of a spreadsheet anddropping it on a person object. As illustrated, spreadsheet 1200 shows auser selecting Data 2 (1210) and dragging and dropping it onto person 1.In response to the user dropping data/spreadsheet object onto a personobject an action may be performed by the spreadsheet application. Forexample, the data/object may be sent to the user, the data may be postedto a network location, the data may be associated with the user, and/orsome other action may occur. A default action may be specified thatdefines the action to occur when data/object(s) are dropped onto aperson object. The default action may be changed by a user and may beassociated with all/portion of the person objects. For example, for somepeople the default action may be to post to a social network whereas forother users the default action may be to send the data to the person.The action that occurs may also be context dependent. For example, whena user drops a picture on an object this may indicate to post to asocial network whereas when a user drops a document on the person thismay indicate to email the document or a link to the document to theuser.

Referring now to FIG. 13 an illustrative process for representing aperson within a spreadsheet will be described. When reading thediscussion of the routines presented herein, it should be appreciatedthat the logical operations of various embodiments are implemented (1)as a sequence of computer implemented acts or program modules running ona computing system and/or (2) as interconnected machine logic circuitsor circuit modules within the computing system. The implementation is amatter of choice dependent on the performance requirements of thecomputing system implementing the invention. Accordingly, the logicaloperations illustrated and making up the embodiments described hereinare referred to variously as operations, structural devices, acts ormodules. These operations, structural devices, acts and modules may beimplemented in software, in firmware, in special purpose digital logic,and any combination thereof.

After a start block, process 1300 moves to operation 1310, where aspreadsheet is accessed that includes one or more person objects.According to an embodiment, the person objects are native to thespreadsheet application and the person object(s) may be acted upon inthe same manner as any other spreadsheet objects within the spreadsheet.According to an embodiment, the person object includes some/all of thefollowing fields including a name field, a contact field, anorganization field, a social network field, an interests field and anidentifying information field (e.g. age, birth date). Other fields mayalso be included. Default actions may also be associated with a personobject. According to an embodiment, the person object includes some/allof the following default actions including a contact action, a createformula action, a post action, and a custom action.

Moving to operation 1320, a determination is made as to when anoperation in the spreadsheet involves a person object. The determinationmay be made in response to a direct user action, a result of anexecution of a formula, a message received from another application, andthe like.

Flowing to operation 1330, the operation is performed that involves theperson object. For example, the operation may include postinginformation to a network location, contacting one or more persons (e.g.email, phone, IM, SMS), associating a view of a spreadsheet with aperson, and updating a display of the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet maybe updated in many different ways. For example, when a new person joinsa group, a person object representing the person may be automaticallyadded to the spreadsheet. Other information may also be added/deleted.For example, when a person object is automatically/manually added to thespreadsheet, other columns/rows may be populated (e.g. preferred contactinformation, task information, status information . . . ). The status ofthe person object may also be updated. The status may be updatedautomatically/manually. For example, calendar information may be keptfor a person that is used to update when that person is in a meeting, onvacation, traveling for business and the like. A person may alsoindicate their status manually. For example, a person may change a fieldusing a user interface to indicate their status.

Transitioning to operation 1340, the spreadsheet is displayed. Accordingto an embodiment, the person object is represented by a graphicalrepresentation (e.g. picture/icon) of the person including statusinformation for the person.

The process then flows to an end block and returns to processing otheractions.

The above specification, examples and data provide a completedescription of the manufacture and use of the composition of theinvention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, the inventionresides in the claims hereinafter appended.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for representing a person within aspreadsheet, comprising: accessing a displayed spreadsheet that includessupport for native objects comprising a person object and other nativespreadsheet objects including chart objects and table objects, whereinthe person object comprises fields including a name and a contactmethod; determining when a spreadsheet operation involves the personobject that is displayed within the spreadsheet including a graphicalrepresentation of the person object and a graphical status indicator ofthe person that indicates an availability of the person object, whereinthe graphical status indicator is configured to change a color and ashape of the graphical representation of the person object based on thechanges in the availability of the person; configuring, in response todetermining that the spreadsheet operation involves the person object, aview of the spreadsheet based on a person represented by the personobject, wherein configuring the display comprises: filtering and sortingobjects of the spreadsheet based on the person represented by the personobject, and providing a context menu based on the person represented bythe person object; determining that a second data object in thespreadsheet is associated with the person object; in response todetermining that the second data object is associated with the personobject, identifying a predetermined rule, wherein the predetermined ruleis defined based on a data category of the second data object; andperforming a spreadsheet operation involving the person object, whereinthe spreadsheet operation: treats the person object in a same manner asother native spreadsheet objects and are acted upon in a same manner asthe other native spreadsheet objects, and applies the predeterminedrule.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the fields of the personspreadsheet object further comprise a field for a social network towhich the person belongs and at least two of: organization informationcomprising a company and a manager, a birth date, and an interest. 3.The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting a portion of thespreadsheet and associating the selected portion with the person objectsuch that when the person that is represented by the person object viewsthe spreadsheet, the person is provided with a view of the selectedportion.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the spreadsheetoperation involving the person object comprises displaying a post from asocial network within the spreadsheet that is associated with the personobject.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the spreadsheetoperation involving the person object comprises selecting an optionwithin a graphical user interface of the spreadsheet that is used topost data to a social network.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising including the person object within a formula that in responseto a condition specified by the formula performs an action relating tothe person object.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the person objectfurther comprises a location field that represents a location of theperson.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing at leastone of the following actions when data is dropped onto the personobject: sending a link to the data to the person; sending the data tothe person; and posting the data to a network location.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising determining when a post is made to a socialnetwork that is related to each of the person objects within thespreadsheet and displaying the posts within the spreadsheet.
 10. Acomputer-readable storage medium device storing computer-executableinstructions for representing a person within a spreadsheet, comprising:accessing a spreadsheet that includes support for a person object andother native objects including a chart object and a table object,wherein the person object is a native spreadsheet object, wherein theperson object comprises fields including a name, a contact method; and anetwork location that is used to post information; determining when aspreadsheet operation involves the person object that is displayed as agraphical representation within a cell of the spreadsheet, wherein thegraphical status indicator is configured to change a color and a shapeof the graphical representation of the person object based on thechanges in an availability of the person; configuring, in response todetermining that the spreadsheet operation involves the person object, aview of the spreadsheet based on a person represented by the personobject, wherein configuring the display comprises: filtering and sortingobjects of the spreadsheet based on the person represented by the personobject; and providing a context menu based on the person represented bythe person object; determining that a second data object in thespreadsheet is associated with the person object; in response todetermining that the second data object is associated with the personobject, identifying a predetermined rule, wherein the predetermined ruleis based on a data category of the second data object; and performing aspreadsheet operation involving the person object, wherein thespreadsheet operation: treats the person object in a same manner asother native spreadsheet objects, and applies the predetermined rule.11. The computer-readable storage medium device of claim 10, furthercomprising selecting a portion of the spreadsheet and performing atleast one of: sending the selected portion to the person that isassociated with another person object; and associating the selectedportion with the another person object such that the person that isrepresented by the another person object is provided with a view of theselected portion when viewing the spreadsheet.
 12. The computer-readablestorage medium device of claim 10, wherein performing the spreadsheetoperation involving the person object comprises displaying a post from asocial network within the spreadsheet.
 13. The computer-readable storagemedium device of claim 10, wherein performing the spreadsheet operationinvolving the person object comprises selecting an option within agraphical user interface of the spreadsheet that is used to post data toa social network.
 14. The computer-readable storage medium device ofclaim 10, further comprising including the person object within aformula that in response to a condition specified by the formulaperforms an action relating to the person object.
 15. Thecomputer-readable storage medium device of claim 10, wherein the personobject further comprises a status field that displays an availability ofthe person.
 16. A system for representing a person within a spreadsheet,comprising: a network connection that is configured to connect to anetwork; a processor, memory, and a computer-readable storage medium; anoperating environment stored on the computer-readable storage medium andexecuting on the processor; a client spreadsheet application; aspreadsheet; wherein the spreadsheet comprises support for personobjects and other native spreadsheet objects including chart objects andtable objects; wherein the person object is a native spreadsheet object,wherein the person object comprises fields including a name, a contactmethod; and a network location that is used to post information, whereinthe person object comprises a status field that displays an availabilityof the person; and a spreadsheet manager operating in conjunction withthe spreadsheet application that is configured to perform actionscomprising: accessing the spreadsheet that is displayed; determiningwhen a spreadsheet operation involves a person object that is displayedwithin the spreadsheet including a graphical representation of theperson object and a graphical status indicator of the person thatindicates an availability of the person object based on the statusfield, wherein the graphical status indicator is configured to change acolor and a shape of the graphical representation of the person objectbased on the changes in the availability of the person; configuring, inresponse to determining that the spreadsheet operation involves theperson object, a view of the spreadsheet based on a person representedby the person object, wherein configuring the display comprises:filtering and sorting objects of the spreadsheet based on the personrepresented by the person object, and providing a context menu based onthe person represented by the person object; determining that a seconddata object in the spreadsheet is associated with the person object; inresponse to determining that the second data object is associated withthe person object, identifying a predetermined rule, wherein thepredetermined rule is based on a data category of the second dataobject; and performing a spreadsheet operation involving the personobject, wherein the spreadsheet operation: treats the person object in asame manner as other native spreadsheet objects, and applies thepredetermined rule.
 17. The system of claim 16, further comprisingselecting a portion of the spreadsheet and performing at least one of:sending the selected portion to the person that is associated withanother person object; and associating the selected portion with theanother person object such that the person that is represented by theanother person object is provided with a view of the selected portionwhen viewing the spreadsheet.
 18. The system of claim 16, whereinperforming the spreadsheet operation involving the person objectcomprises at least one of: displaying a post from a social networkwithin the spreadsheet and posting data to a social network in responseto an action performed involving the person object.
 19. The system ofclaim 16, further comprising including the person object within aformula that in response to a condition specified by the formulaperforms an action relating to the person object.